Was anyone else watching the elan rear light on ebay?

USED & it fetched a whopping £333.01

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190675852806? ... 1438.l2649


Just found another at £345 buy it now
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Elan-La ... 4660910095

Thats Mad prices for a single used light!!

[BIG_MVS]

Not sure why prices have suddenly shot up? Maybe the Lotus "new old stock" supplies have dried up.

I was only getting £75 to £100 for a unit a while ago which I think is a fair price. £300+ is just crackers!

Hmm, been looking for a N/S one for ages... but £300+ is a little surprising. Anyone got any 2nd hand laying around...?

I wonder what the guy means when he says he was only selling the one lamp cluster because he has now fitted Kia lights. Could this now be a source of light units for us? I have reproduced the question and answer from the eBay listing below.

"Question & Answer Answered On

Q: Hi - please would you confirm any damage or missing parts i.e. surface damge to indicator area of cover perspex, missing clips, missing fog light retainer spring, if wiring loom, bulb holders and bulbs are present and if the unit is marked SCINTEX on the upper outer perspex? Thanks 09-May-12
A: Hi k818ad1 This unit was removed by me from my car and is complete and in good working order (removed because O/S lamp damaged so I cannot sell a pair, I now have KIA lights) The mark on the outer perspex is SAE A 21RS 3T85 DOT (no mention of SCINTEX) Lotus stamp for 4 Dec 89 on inside"

I have just done the research and answered my own question!

Firstly they refer to the Kia Elan Roadster and secondly perhaps they might not be a replacement for the lights of a GTA, see below.

Hmmmmmmm

USED & it fetched a whopping £333.01

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190675852806? ... 1438.l2649


Just found another at £345 buy it now
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Elan-La ... 4660910095

Thats Mad prices for a single used light!!

Yep - been watching these. Also another recently went for £310!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160788756101? ... 500wt_1199

I'm going to need a N/S unit as part of my rebuild but I am not paying this kind of ££! Don't think the Kia Elan replacements fit as they seem to have a notch removed from the top front corners....

Don't know what I'll do yet if I cannot get a good replacement for sensible money.....

[stephendell]

There are no new GTA ones left and only one side for A610, hence all scarce.

Then isn't this the kind of thing the club should be looking into being re-made? It has the possibilities of being sold to Lotus/Kia owners too so might even make a profit which could be rolled into making the next rare part that no-one can get hold of....

Then isn't this the kind of thing the club should be looking into being re-made? It has the possibilities of being sold to Lotus/Kia owners too so might even make a profit which could be rolled into making the next rare part that no-one can get hold of....

I've been thinking about this very point. From what I can see most problems seem to be cracked outer covers rather than damaged lenses? If the covers could be reproduced I'm sure many rear clusters could be repaired? Problem is they seem to be injection moulded so while the manufacturing would be simple, the tooling would be expensive.

Anyone here with more knowledge of this?

maybe i sshould get on the phone to my contact in Lotus HQ in Kuala Lumpur,............... who owns the only spider in Malaysia

The tooling would be very expensive ,very deep mould ,handed and no feed marks on the seen surfaces ....5k + in materials alone ...15/20k poss .
I'm sure I've seen a thread on FAR about remanufacture ? Loads of names on a very big list of takers so perhaps someone is laying down some tooling already .
Possibly could be made by a different method but you would have to accept that it would be more functional than an exact copy .

Don't suppose the OEM would be interested in remaking these?

I've always wondered where all the tooling ends up after production has ceased
Here is the thread ,looks to be current ,perhaps Cedric or Andy can get the sp .

http://alpinerenault.free.fr/outils/for ... 11&t=25007

I've always wondered where all the tooling ends up after production has ceased

Hi Clee, Usually (can't speak for Renault but I know Ford do) the tooling is destroyed when parts finish production runs at contract press/mould shops.
Anyone who says they have the original tooling has either had it remade to the last off components for example or has had the tooling out the back door without the Manufacturers consent.
I used to be a press toolmaker and actually made a few tools for my own purposes during that time to reproduce parts for my cars etc, ie Tappet Spanners for the RS1600i, Roll bar clamps and battery trays for the same car to name a few parts I reproduced.

Rich

I work in the automotive supply business, normally tool destruction orders are given by the customer only, the supplier must keep all tooling available until this point. It's normally many years after end of line but I guess it is many years since GTA and Élan lines ended!!!

So if someone is unfortunate enough to have their prized alp or lotus rear ended what would the insurance company do about repairing if these lights are simply unavailable?